I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to write about the Haunted Library here on your blog, Sara. The Haunted Library is where my relationship with you began. I included
a 10-page proposal for it when I first wrote you to ask about representation
and I think you had the series sold almost before the ink on our letter of
agreement was dry. That was almost three years ago now…and finally the first two
books in the series are out!
One
of the most common questions I’ve asked about the Haunted Library (in the three weeks it's been out!) is why a library? Why not a house? Or a school? The
answer to that question is the subject this post.
The
easy answer is: because I LOVE libraries. But that may be understating it.
My
love for libraries began in childhood. I was kind of a lonely kid. I didn’t
spend a lot of time with other kids; I spent my time in the library. Reading
and writing stories. The library was my refuge. My safe harbor. From the
library I could go ANYWHERE…inside the pages of a good book.
One
of my favorite books was E.L. Konigsburg’s From
the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler. Claudia and I were kindred
spirits, except I didn’t want to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I
wanted to live in the library.
I
got a job as a library page when I was 15. Finally, I had an opportunity to
play out that From the Mixed Up Files of
Basil E. Frankweiler fantasy. My best friend had moved away, so I had
nothing better to do on a Saturday night than hang out in the library.
By
myself.
After
closing.
No
one at the library had any idea I was doing this. The adult I worked with locked
up at closing and went out the back door. I headed toward the front door as
though I was really leaving, but as soon as I heard the back door latch, I went
back into the work room, where I hung out the rest of the night. I ate my
dinner there. I read. Sometimes I watched a movie. But mostly I wrote. I wrote
pages and pages and pages on my “novel.” I would’ve slept there, too, but I had to
be home by midnight. This went on for well over a year.
Then
one night, someone drove by and saw the light on in the back room. They also
thought they saw someone moving around in the library. So first they called Mr. Picken, who was the library director. Mr. Picken assumed someone had broken
into the library, so he called the police.
One
of the officers went to the front door in case the “burglar” went out that way.
The other officer waited in the back alley for Mr. Picken to come with the key.
I was completely oblivious to all of this. But I will never forget the sound of that back door opening, the flashlight, and the voice that called out, “Police! Is anyone here?”
The only person there was…me.
Mr.
Picken asked if I was scheduled to work on Monday. I was. He said we would talk
about this before my shift. And then he sent me home.
It
was a horrible, horrible weekend. I was so scared I was going to lose this job
that I loved. And I didn’t see myself as the sort of person who would ever get
fired from a job. Even worse, how could I ever even set foot in the library
again if they fired me?
But
I wasn’t fired. Mr. Picken was very nice about the whole thing. He asked
me how many times I’d hung out in the library by myself after closing. I uh…may
have SLIGHTLY underestimated the number of times I’d done this. By about thirty or so. Next he wanted to know what I was doing in the library. I told him I was
writing stories. He smiled and said, “One day when you’re a writer, this is
going to make a nice story for you to tell.” [How did he know???] “But you can’t
stay at the library after closing. You need to go home.” And for weeks after
that, someone always made sure that I really did leave at closing.
I’ve
continued to write in the library as an adult, only now I do it when the
library is open. J
The
library “saved” me when I was a kid. It gave me a place to belong.
I
also believe the library saved my older son. Our local library staff took an interest in him. They
talked to him…they offered him volunteer work…they even gave him a job when he
was old enough. He found a place to belong at the library just like I did.
I’m
so grateful to both the Martin County Library and to the Coralville Public
Library for their roles they played in my life and my son’s life that I’ve always felt a
strong desire to give back to the library. I’ve helped with MANY library book
sales and events… I’ve led teen writers’ workshops…I’ve facilitated book
discussion groups for kids…I helped establish a reading with therapy dogs
program…I’ve even served as President of the Friends of the Library. More than
once. But it’s never felt like enough.
If
you go into a library and look around, you’ll see the library kids. The kids
like my son and me. They still hang out at the library. The library is still a
refuge. It still saves kids.
And
I would still like to live in a library. Like Claire in my series.
So
THAT’S why the Haunted Library and not the Haunted House or the Haunted School
or the Haunted Anything Else.
